http://bangordailynews.com/2012/11/19/health/medicare-agrees-to-pick-up-the-tab-for-obesity-counseling/

Medicare agrees to pick up the tab for obesity counseling

By Georgia Clark-Albert, Special to the BDN

Posted Nov. 19, 2012, at 11:19 a.m.

"A recent landmark decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) represents an important first step toward addressing one of the great ironies of American health care.

Insurers have been willing to foot the bill for managing the complications of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, but most have not been willing to reimburse practitioners for their work in treating obesity, which is often the major risk factor contributing to chronic diseases. Insurers have been willing to pay for costly gastric bypass surgery, but not for intensive medical nutrition therapy that could produce similar results.

Now, Medicare will begin reimbursing primary care physicians and other qualified practitioners for administering face-to-face behavioral counseling to patients with a body mass index of 30 or more."